


"Thou Art the Man!"

by DwaejiTokki



Series: Merlin & co. in the Horrorful Land of Poe [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Accusations, Death, Drama, Murder, Mystery, Poe - Freeform, Suspense, edgar allan poe - Freeform, narrator - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 15:32:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DwaejiTokki/pseuds/DwaejiTokki
Summary: A mysterious narrator recounts how Merlin is arrested for the supposed murder of Gaius. “I would be remiss if, now that the thing is done, I did not take the time to pen exactly how the event occurred, and what had happened to the persons involved, and how the matter was resolved.” (Virtual cookies to anyone who guesses the narrator!)





	"Thou Art the Man!"

I would be remiss if, now that the thing is done, I did not take the time to pen exactly how the event occurred, and what had happened to the persons involved, and how the matter was resolved.

            It happened, during the summer past, that the royal physician Gaius was called out to the country to attend to an anticipated difficult childbirth of a certain noble’s young wife. Unfortunately, the physician never arrived at his destination, though both mother and child survived the affair. As for Gaius, only two hours after his departure, his pony returned to Camelot without him, and without the saddlebags which had been strapped on his back. A search party of knights and peasants alike was organized by order of King Uther Pendragon, who sent them to canvass the roads and forests.

            Foremost and most energetic in the investigation was Gaius’ ward and nephew, Merlin. He had not been long at the castle, but had come recently to apprentice under the physician. It was he who had expressed most concern over the disappearance of his mentor. When he heard that the pony had returned without its master, his face had paled, and he shivered and shook all over as if he had had a fit of the ague. But almost at once he recovered from the shock, and he had defied the direct orders of his prince to set out on his own search ahead of everyone else. Another new servant in the household was also determined to help in any way he could, begging the prince to allow him to follow Merlin. Prince Arthur granted permission, and the man, whom at the time I did not recognize, disappeared into the trees.

            I remained behind to follow orders and to serve refreshments from a skein. There was no sense in having the rescue party fainting of dehydration.

            Of course, as any kind of gathering of people, rumors circulated quickly. There were whispers from those who had seen the prince calling after the heedless servant, who wondered how the young man could deign to disregard orders, and who had suspicions that this servant was hiding something or other—and had gone off quickly to hide even more. In short, some came to believe that the physician’s nephew, who could often be found in the tavern, was in some way connected with the disappearance of the beloved old man.

            By the time the search was underway, with Prince Arthur, the chief tracker, at the head of it, the sun had risen over the trees. Soon enough, the prince was able to distinguish the pony’s tracks from those of the shoes on the path, mostly because the pony had strayed off into the forest. Prince Arthur dismounted his stallion and traced these wending tracks, with the armed party silently behind.

            The pony wandered for three miles east, before coming to a pool of stagnant water, half hidden by dark brambles. Prince Arthur expertly pointed out the signs of a struggle, and then the pony tracks leading away from the area, this time at a run. He ignored these tracks and focused on the disturbed leaf litter.

            “It looks like something heavy was dragged towards the pool,” the prince said, indicating such marks as his trained eye could see.

            Several men volunteered their services of entering the pool to dredge what must surely be Gaius’ corpse. They divested themselves of their armor and garments and waded into the thick green scum, hands skimming the surface of the pond. They reached the other bank without encountering him, and turned back to repeat the dredge. But still there was nothing.

            Then appeared the young man who had left after Merlin. “Apologies, Sire,” said he. “I followed the physician’s apprentice, but I lost him in the trees, and I am no tracker. I heard voices in this direction, and came here in time to see your work. Might I suggest, perhaps, draining the pond altogether?”

            Prince Arthur commended his idea and had the men set to work digging deep trenches at various points around the pond to drain it. Many of the peasant men had brought spades with them, in the case that the prince needed them to disinter the corpse.

            In the meanwhile, I studied this young man, wracking my mind to place his face, for indeed he was familiar to me. At long last, I remembered that he, like Merlin, was rather new to the castle household. He was servant of the king’s manservant, the man who ran petty errands, much like a glorified page. All in all, an unimportant, easily replaced servant. But he was eager to please his masters, as all servants should be, and I could not fault him for that. I later learned that his name was Cedric.

            I did not have much time to pursue my thoughts, busy as I was pouring drink for those who needed it. No sooner than the bottom of the pond was visible did the men spot something. Prince Arthur himself mucked up his pristine boots to go and fetch the thing, which was revealed to be a muddy, soaked garment of some kind.

            Cedric supplied the water with which to rinse it.

            It was a red neckerchief, which nearly everyone in the vicinity immediately recognized to belong to Merlin, the physician’s apprentice. The neckerchief was much torn and stained with blood, and many witnesses personally remembered having seen Merlin wearing this article on the morning of Gaius’ departure; while there were many others quite willing to testify that Merlin had been wearing his blue neckerchief, not the red one, no one could yet swear upon it, as Merlin had disappeared to who knew where, and could not answer for this discovery.

            In any case, fair and just Prince Arthur declared that they would not try the man in his absence, and commissioned the search party to search for Merlin. But the task was unnecessarily ordained, for not a moment later Merlin came stumbling through the trees, bleeding from the head.

            Upon spotting Prince Arthur, he claimed that he had fallen and struck his head, but when he woke he heard voices not far off and came to see what was the clamor. The prince judged Merlin to be in fair condition, despite the injury, and asked him where his neckerchief was.

            A murmur rippled through the crowd as they finally noticed that Merlin was wearing no neckerchief, red or blue or otherwise. Those who had previously vouched for him now looked uncertain, and remained in stony silence. Those who had suspicioned Merlin now impatiently held their tongues as Prince Arthur questioned the physician’s apprentice.

            Matters now wore a very serious countenance for Merlin, and it was observed, as Prince Arthur revealed the discovered garment, how Merlin’s face grew very sickly pale; and when asked what he had to say for himself, he was utterly incapable of uttering a word. Prince Arthur pressed him to know where he had been the morning Gaius had set out, and where he had been while the others had been searching for Gaius’ body, and why Merlin did not speak to clear his name.

            By this time, some men were calling for Merlin’s execution.

One man, Cedric, stepped forward and made a magnanimous case for the apprentice. He pled, “Can’t you see that he is injured? All of you know that head injuries can be deceptive: at one moment the poor man is fine, but at the next his tongue is paralyzed. Certainly he wants to prove his innocence, but look! His eyes show that he is not yet present at this trial.

“Good Sire, please have mercy on him. Surely, since the man is already dead, there is but time to let the poor nephew rest and recuperate? One needs to strength in the face of a charge of murder, especially if one is innocent

“Besides, I know with utmost certainty that Merlin, at the time of Gaius’ departure, was out picking herbs for his beloved master. I saw them wish each other well just this morning! Certainly not the behavior of a murderer, I should think, Sire.”

Prince Arthur nodded at Cedric’s wise plea, and granted Merlin a respite. He ordered his knights to arrest the young man so he could recuperate as best he could under house arrest in the physician’s quarters at Camelot. The knights quickly bore him away, and Prince Arthur disbanded the search party. Until Merlin either proved his innocence, or was found guilty and commanded to reveal where he had hidden Gaius’ body, there was no need to search for anyone.

As everyone, having the suspected murderer in custody, turned towards Camelot, it was noticed that Cedric ran forward a few steps, and stooped to pick a small object up from the grass. He quickly examined it, shot a glance toward the physician’s nephew, and made to surreptitiously place his find in his pocket. But this action was noticed, and a knight demanded to know what it was he had attempted to conceal.

Cedric’s only choice was to sheepishly present the object, and Prince Arthur was called to examine it. It was found to be a small dagger, the blade chipped and stained with blood. Moreover, several persons recognized this to belong to Gaius, but knew that the old man regularly lent it to his nephew during his herb-picking excursions to strip certain medicinal barks. And as Merlin had gone herb-picking that morning, as Cedric testified, then Merlin would have been in possession of the knife.

No doubt now remained concerning the guilt of the physician’s nephew. But still Prince Arthur insisted that he be allowed to heal from his injury before withstanding the strain of a trial. In the meanwhile, he said, they would prepare a funeral for Gaius, as well as call in a replacement physician. After all, life went on.

But upon returning to the castle, King Uther heard of what had transpired with the case of his friend and personal physician. He pronounced then and there that Merlin was guilty of murder in the first degree, and that his sentence was death. The Lady Morgana, who had heard the story from her maidservant, who had it of a knight for whose family her mother had worked, managed to convince the king to postpone the sentence until such time that Merlin was able to make a case for himself, at least. The king benevolently agreed, but with the condition that Merlin be imprisoned until that time.

So Merlin, who had yet to recover his faculties of speech, was chained up in the dungeon and left to recuperate from his head wound.

I myself must admit that this matter had riled me up, ruffled my feathers, so to speak. To combat such unprofessional inward turmoil, I took to cups for the first in many a year. I went to the least disrespected establishment in Camelot, The Rising Sun tavern, to take my fill for the night. Unfortunately, the case of the murdered physician was all the talk, and none other than Cedric was there, loudly and drunkenly proclaiming that he just could not bring himself to believe that Merlin would murder his own mentor. He went on like such, when he was not imbibing copious amounts of mead, which he certainly should not afford on his meager pay.

But I kept quiet in my own corner to avoid gossip. At last, when I could no longer stand Cedric’s wailing, I paid for my share and left the tavern into the dark streets.

The next day, King Uther commanded that Gaius’ quarters be sorted, and some of his possessions collected to be burned on the pyre. Prince Arthur was present to oversee the work, which both I and Cedric were commissioned to do. (He under my suggestion; I must admit I rather took some pleasure each time Cedric winced in the bright sunlight or at a particularly loud noise.)

At length, Prince Arthur ordered that we open a monstrously large wooden crate stashed nearby the bookcases. We heaved it up onto the cleared table and made to lift the lid, but it was nailed tightly shut. I located the fire poker and wondered aloud whether it might work to wedge the box open. Prince Arthur gave his permission for me to attempt the task, so I set to work, Cedric standing by at the foot of the table and massaging his temples.

As I inserted the tip of the poker, the top of the box flew suddenly off, and at the same instant, there sprang up into a sitting position, directly facing Cedric, the bruised, bloody, and nearly putrid corpse of the murdered Gaius himself. It gazed for a few seconds, fixedly and sorrowfully, with its decaying eyes, full into the countenance of Cedric; uttered slowly, but clearly and impressively, the words: "Thou art the man!" and then, falling over the side of the chest as if thoroughly satisfied, stretched out its limbs quiveringly upon the table.

Everyone in the room stared in abject horror at the scene.

Then all eyes were directed to Cedric. If I live a thousand years, I can never forget the more than mortal agony which was depicted in that ghastly face of his. For several minutes he stood rigidly as a statue of marble; his eyes seeming, in the intense vacancy of their gaze, to be turned inward and absorbed in the contemplation of his own miserable, murderous soul. At length their expression appeared to flash suddenly out into the external world, when, with a quick leap, he sprang forward, and falling heavily with his head and shoulders upon the table, and in contact with the corpse, poured out rapidly and vehemently a detailed confession of the hideous crime for which Merlin was then imprisoned and doomed to die.

What he recounted was in substance this: He followed his victim to the vicinity of the pool; there surprised his pony by jumping out from behind a tree; the pony reared and dispatched its rider; and Gaius fell on his neck and died. Upon his own horse he slung the corpse of Gaius, and thus bore it to a secure place of concealment a long distance off through the woods.

The neckerchief and the knife, which he had taken off the unconscious Merlin, had been placed by himself where found, with the view of avenging himself upon Merlin, who had won the job he’d craved. Towards the end of the blood-churning recital the words of the guilty wretch faltered and grew hollow. When the record was finally exhausted, he arose, staggered backward from the table, and fell—dead.

The means by which this happily-timed confession was extorted, although efficient, were simple indeed. Cedric’s behavior excited my suspicions from the first. I saw at once that all the criminating discoveries arose, either directly or indirectly, from himself. But the fact which clearly opened my eyes to the true state of the case, was the affair of the neckerchief, for I myself clearly remembered that Merlin, upon setting out in the morning to pick herbs, was indeed wearing the red neckerchief; but I also clearly remembered his wearing the same neckerchief when he set out alone to find Gaius, and it was not torn nor bloodied. When I came to think of these things, and also of the late increase of liberality and expenditure on the part of Cedric at the tavern, I entertained a suspicion which was none the less strong because I kept it altogether to myself.

In the meantime, I instituted a rigorous private search for the corpse of Gaius, and, for good reasons, searched in quarters as near as possible to that direction from which Cedric had happened across Prince Arthur’s search party. The result was that, after some hours, I came across an old dry well, the mouth of which was nearly hidden by brambles; and here, at the bottom, I discovered what I sought.

I procured a stiff piece of whalebone, leftover from the delicacy traded to us by Northmen some days ago, and thrust it down the throat of the corpse, and deposited the latter in the same box which had housed the whale flesh—taking care so to double the body up as to double the whalebone with it. In this manner I had to press forcibly upon the lid to keep it down while I secured it with nails; and I anticipated, of course, that as soon as these latter were removed, the top would fly off and the body up.

Having thus arranged the box, I secretly employed and privately paid several ruffians to carry it in the darkness up to the physician’s chambers; and then after waking Prince Arthur for his breakfast that morning, I suggested that Cedric would be a good addition to the sorting party. For the words which I intended the corpse to speak, I confidently depended upon my ventriloquial abilities, which I had often practiced as a child; for their effect, I counted upon the conscience of the murderous wretch.

I believe there is nothing more to be explained. Merlin was released upon the spot, with many apologies all around for disbelieving his innocence. He was given time to grieve. Prince Arthur offered him a job as his manservant, seeing as his uncle could no longer mentor him in matters of medicine, and Merlin accepted.

Quite honestly, I was content to be relieved of duty as the prince’s manservant. Now I may find a new master—one who might appreciate my brass jokes.

Thus concludes the event.  

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if and when you figured it out!


End file.
